Originally Posted by
thatmichhunter
I was in a gun store the other day and they had a sign in there that explained it, and it goes by length to determine if it is a pistol, but the round would still be illegal to use down here
So to concisely summarize multiple posts, the first question is the difference between a pistol and rifle and that is defined federally by the ATF and has little to do with game laws at the state level.
Second question is what type of pistol is legal to hunt with in MI and pretty separate from the first issue. Bottleneck cartridge pistols are not legal to use on game in MI shotgun zone unless laws have changed VERY recently.